Family Concerns

I remember not long ago the trouble I would get into at home if I was even caught looking at the telephone. What I would have give for a prepaid phone card back then. My old man had this theory that despite local call charges being fixed, there was some hidden conspiracy where hidden fees were some how being factored into the equation. Got to love him!

Imagine my surprise recently when I visited my parents and found dad on an overseas call to Europe. Yes, he was using a prepaid phone card. He reckons he’s finally put one over the major phone companies!

The Hidden Fees

Be wary of the hidden fees. Yes, they can exist and can literally turn what was supposed to be a pleasant and money saving experience into an expensive exercise. A prepaid phone card is supposed to save you money on phone calls, lots of it. The last thing you want to be doing is propping up some greedy supplier with ridiculous, maintenance, connection or multiple minute rounding fees.

The truth is, the competition for the consumer dollar in the calling card business is fierce, very fierce. You, the consumer, are in the driver’s seat simply because you have choices and plenty of them. Okay, some of these hidden fees are offset by extremely low cost per minute rates but it’s the inconvenience of thinking you have a certain amount of talk time on your prepaid phone card only to realize fees have eaten away a good portion of it.

Avoid having to pay daily, weekly or monthly maintenance fees. If the fee is miniscule and not likely to affect your overall budget then consider it but only if the cost per minute is very, very low.

Connection fees can be a pain in the you know what when you’re not aware of them and in many cases, seem hard to fathom. Also, overseas travelers beware of a surcharge on using pay phones.

Multiple minute rounding fees can literally eat up your talk time. Okay, calls rounded off to the next minute you could live with but calls rounded off in five minute increments? Give them a wide berth. There’s nothing worse than making a five minute 40 second call and then having it rounded off to 10 minutes.

So Should You Use A Prepaid Phone Card?

I wouldn’t be without one. Despite the negativity surrounding hidden fees they are a great medium to use to stay in touch with the people who matter most in your life. Hidden fees can be avoided easily. You just need to be aware they may exist before purchasing. Avoid them at all costs.